The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) locked horns in the High Court in Port of Spain yesterday over the use of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding (CBA/MOU) between the Board and players.

The dispute over the CBA/MOU came to a head last year when the WICB attempted to terminate the agreements, with WIPA arguing that unilateral termination of the agreement would leave the players unprotected.

WIPA successfully sought an injunction to stop the WICB from terminating the CBA/MOU, meaning the agreement would remain in place despite expiring in November last year, up to the start of yesterday's trial to determine whether the agreement should stand.

The WICB has argued that although the agreement does not have a termination clause, a termination provision can be implied even though none is specifically stated, and that the CBA/MOU negotiated in 2005 was not intended to remain unchanged in perpetuity.

WIPA's position is that both parties intentionally left out a unilateral termination clause, and that the WICB could not unilaterally terminate the agreements.

The matter is being heard by Justice Ricky Rahim in the High Court, with WICB being represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Luke Hamel-Smith and Catherine Ramnarine. WIPA's legal team is being led by Dave Kissoon, with Sushilla Jadoonanan as instructing attorney.

Former WIPA CEO Dinanath Ramnarine was the first WIPA witness called on the day one of the court proceedings yesterday, and was questioned by Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC.

Hamel-Smith probed Ramnarine on the discussions and representations made by WICB to WIPA before the start of negotiations for the CBA and MOU.

He also questioned Ramnarine about the minutes of meetings that took place between WIPA's and WICB's representatives.

Proceedings will resume today with Ramnarine on the stand, before WIPA calls its next witness, former WICB corporate secretary Anthony Deyal.